"SCARY GOOD" CONTENT

Halloween, a night of tricks and treats, has roots that go beyond candy and horror. Halloween began as the ancient Celtic religious festival of Samhain. The Celts believed that the barrier between our world and the world of the spirits and goblins became thin after the summer. This meant that the weird ghosts and ghouls could wander into our world with their spooky, magical powers. Therefore, the Celts would throw a huge festival in order to scare away the spirits. As time passed, the Christian religion adopted the day to be All Hallows’ Eve, the day before All Saints’ Day. Now, in the United States, the holiday has risen and become immensely popular. Traditions like pumpkin carving and trick or treating came into our culture in the 20th century. Jack-o'-lanterns became the symbol of Halloween but people in Ireland and Scotland originally used beets or turnips as lanterns on Halloween. According to Karin Lehnardt, senior writer for Fact Retriever, here are some Halloween facts for the spooky skeleton in you:★Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. ★In 2014, U.S. citizens spent $2.8 billion on Halloween costumes.★The costume for kids this Halloween in 2016 is any action hero or superhero, while adults are more likely to dress as a Batman comics character.★Halloween falls on a Monday in 2016, so the spookiest thing you may see is the homework due the next day.

If you’re looking for an action-packed, fear-filled, heart-racing adventure this Halloween, then the Zombie Run is the perfect event for you. Thousands of people will come together and participate in this greatly anticipated event. However, one may ask, what exactly is the Zombie Run? In this event people “run for their lives from flesh hungry zombies through a 3.1 mile race where ZOMBIES are the obstacles.” During this event, participants have the choice to be a runner or to dress up as a zombie. The goal of the runner is to finish the long and thrilling course with as many flags (lives) as possible, while the goal of the zombie is to pull the runner’s flags to prevent them from finishing with any lives. Runners begin with 3 flags on their belt and must run away from the zombies to “survive” this eventful course. The zombies are staged throughout the course ready to chase you and steal your flags; however, the suspense builds as a zombie can seem to appear out of nowhere. Some zombies act as walkers and runners, some hide in the bushes, and some are crawling on the ground. As a runner, it is crucial to look for Safe Zones at mile markers 1 and 2 in order to receive water and possibly an extra life flag. If you choose to become a member of the Zombie Horde on the other hand, the event’s expert make-up team will “adorn you in true flesh-eating fashion” and you will have access to visit the Blood Splatter zone. This event is a mixture of fun and fear that appeals to the likes of everyone. This event is sponsored by One Blood, which is the same company that does iPrep blood drives. Go find out more at http://www.the5kzombierun.com! The next 5k zombie run isn’t until November 19, 2016; however, there are many Halloween races to keep you satisfied until then.

Do try something different:Deviate from the norms. Step outside of the box. Everyone else dresses up as an angel or devil, or as a vampire. Challenge societies expectations and dress up as someone vital to our world, such as Pepe. By getting a vibrant blue sweater, a frown, and big ol’ eyes you can easily make him a costume.

Do try to be creative:Maybe it’s the night before Halloween, but your costume didn’t come in the mail on time. Or, you couldn’t make up your mind on which costume you’d wear, so you put off getting one until you ran out of time. In this case, you can do a closet costume, which actually isn’t as bad as it sounds. You have a red skirt and an orange turtleneck with some thick glasses? You could be Velma. Do you have a polo t-shirt and some khaki’s? You can dress up as Vancol. It just takes a bit of innovation.

Do get creative with makeup and accessories:Become an icon by adding winged eyeliner to your look. Or, wear a shimmery eye shadow that really brings out the browns in your eyes. Maybe contour heavily for the perfect zombie look. Use makeup to your benefit and transform!

Don’t be insensitive:This should’ve been an expected bullet, honestly. There are many costumes that are sold every year that are actually very offensive and dehumanize the people it attempts to emulate. Some examples are ones modeled after Native Americans, Mexicans, and sugar skulls. These are aspects of various culture that hold a lot of importance/ are actual people that are marginalized and wearing a costume “of them” is a mockery of who they are.

Don’t wear a costume that doesn’t fit comfortably:If what you’re dressing up as wears clothes that are, for example, oversized it’s okay- just make sure that whatever else you’re wearing is comfortable as well so that you don’t spend your entire Halloween in discomfort.

Don’t forget to check local thrift stores for certain items:Maybe there’s a metallic skirt you have no idea where to find, or you can’t think of where to get a wide brimmed hat for your Indiana Jones costume. Just check a local thrift store for those accessories; they’re usually sold at affordable prices.

Here is also a helpful video by a Youtuber named Rian Phin for more Halloween costume ideas that you can do with basic clothes you likely have at home:https://youtu.be/sD7U90_aAHQ

Halloween is the best time of year to have fun, so make the best of it!

​Don’t Breathe: (In theaters now!) This film is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece. It manages to follow the normal plot development seen in numerous horror movies, as well as incorporate several clichés seen in the cinematic universe. Yet, it somehow manages to be unpredictable. The storyline was a little unbelievable initially; the three friends were prompted to burglarize the home of a disabled war veteran based on an unsubstantiated claim that he had inherited a hefty fortune. However, once the film developed and unraveled, the audience slid to the edge of their seats in anticipation and often slammed to the back of their seats in fear. Don’t Breathe is without a doubt one of the best modern horror films this generation of moviegoers has yet to witness.

Kill Command: (coming soon to stream…was in the theaters May 2016) Set in a futuristic society where humans can be merged with technology, Kill Command is the perfect blend of science fiction and horror to create a thriller that gnaws at the omnipresent rhetoric of machines acquiring the ability to overpower man. In the film, a diverse group of soldiers are called into a base for a training exercise utilizing a newly manufactured robot that soon gains sentience. The film takes little time to get to the gory deaths, and as the plot progresses, more is revealed about the truth behind the nature of the experiment and the soldiers. For anyone interested in movies that toy with the apocalyptic scenario of machines taking over the world, this is definitely the movie for you.